Senior Official from Hesse State Calls for Closure of Islamic Republic Consulates in Germany

Boris Rhein, the Prime Minister of Hesse, has requested the German Foreign Ministry to shut down the Islamic Republic's consulates in the country. Recently, the Islamic Center of Hamburg was closed, and its director was expelled from Germany. According to a report by VOA's correspondent in Germany, Boris Rhein stated that the consulates affiliated with the Islamic Republic in Germany are 'ideological bases of the Iranian government and a factor for anti-Semitism, spreading hatred against Israel, and also supporting terrorist organizations like Hezbollah.' The Prime Minister of Hesse, in a letter to Annalena Baerbock, the German Foreign Minister, referred to the Iranian government's support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as missile attacks against Israel, while requesting the closure of the Islamic Republic's consulates in Germany, labeling the Iranian government as a 'violator of security and human rights.' Rhein emphasized that the Iranian government has long been one of the strongest supporters of terrorist groups and has always threatened the security of the region and Israel. For months, activists and opponents of the Islamic Republic have provided evidence to German state officials, asserting that the consulates affiliated with the Islamic Republic are bases for promoting extremist Islamism and places for spying on opponents of the Iranian government. Additionally, Germany recently expelled Mohammad-Hadi Maftah, Khamenei's representative at the Islamic Center of Hamburg. The comprehensive support of the Islamic Republic for terrorism and terrorist operations has been evident for years, culminating in the closure of Islamic centers led by the Islamic Republic in Germany. The Iranian government's support for terrorist organizations and the use of illegal surveillance cameras around the Islamic Republic's consulate in Frankfurt to identify government opponents have been raised repeatedly for at least two years. Narges Eskandari-Gronberg, the Iranian-born mayor of Frankfurt, has also expressed support for the Prime Minister of Hesse's call for the closure of the Islamic Republic's consulate in the state. Although political activists have repeatedly called for the closure of these centers and received negative responses, they now hope that with the action of the Prime Minister of Hesse and the support of other federal government officials, the Iranian government's infiltration through consulate buildings in the country will be blocked. Concurrently with this German official's request for the closure of the Islamic Republic's affiliated centers in the country, Reuters published an investigative report on the role of the Iranian regime's proxy groups in the war with Israel in Western countries, detailing various examples of the Iranian government's collaboration with professional criminal gangs for the assassination, threats, and abduction of Tehran's opponents.